Others are coming in. By the time the squad get back from New Zealand it could be the case that seven new first-team players (plus Ayoze Perez, who I don’t consider that) will have joined.

More may be needed if some go out. Or that might be just enough for the team to move forward and play some good football.

And yet there are some out there still not happy.

They point to the fact, and it is a fact, that no real money has actually been spent in terms of what has been taken in this year from the sale of Yohan Cabaye or Mathieu Debuchy.

This has never overly bothered me.

If any football club can genuinely strengthen without breaking the bank, then it’s okay with me.

And if Mike Ashley spends more than he brings in – and I have a sneaky feeling he will – then we can all look forward to the season with confidence and some hope.

Mike Ashley

So that’s not too bad.

My hope is that someone inside St James’ Park has twigged that the relationship with many thousands of supporters is brittle after some bruising years and unfathomable mistakes such as Joe Kinnear.

However, the club have done well so far and it’s never been this media organisation’s raison d’etre to kick everything they do, despite what some think.

Good players have been signed. More are on their way and in the right positions.

Although I personally, and I’ll bang on about this until it happens, would like to see a Premier League centre-half bought. Now that will cost money, but I am not sure how the team can properly progress without adding to their defence.

And it seems that the manager fancies a piece of that reflected glory by paying tribute to himself, among others, for signing Cabella.

Alan Pardew said: “I’d like to pay tribute to my staff and in particular Graham (Carr), myself, Lee (Charnley), Mike (Ashley) and everyone on the board, who worked really hard for this one.

“We think he is a player who is important, obviously that is represented in the fee and in his commitment to us as well.

“I’m just looking forward to seeing an exciting talent in the team, somebody who can open the door.”

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew

That’s a first. A manager thanking himself. Even Brian Clough stopped short of that. Although if you looked back through the files, it is quite possible that Jose Mourinho did just this.

Maybe it was one of those things you say to the guys who write up quotes for the club, only for it to look a bit daft in print.

Or maybe Pardew has started doing what is known as a “Di Canio” by speaking about himself in the third person.

It would be easy to mock Pardew, but that’s a bit unnecessary given that so much positivity surrounds the club right now.

But I do need to pick him up on the sentiment, rather than the words he used. Nobody should be thanked for pulling off the Cabella deal. Everyone was, simply, doing their jobs for the football club.

Ashley didn’t spend money he didn’t have. Charnley, who to be fair has done well this summer, was only doing what he is paid to do. Same goes for Carr.

For me, just doing the job shouldn’t earn you extra praise.

To quote our old pal Roy Keane when asked to comment about Sir Alex Ferguson praising his work ethic. “Stuff like that almost insults me. I get offended when people give quotes like that about me. It’s like praising the postman for delivering letters.”